The past few weeks crawled along for Keith Rendleman. The former UNCW basketball star watched as others headed overseas for preseason practice and started to wonder if — not when — he’d get that chance.

Keith Rendleman is headed to Switzerland for his second pro season. (Jeff Janowski/StarNews)

Rendleman finally found a home this week. The 6-foot-8 forward will play his second professional season in Switzerland with the Lugano Tigers. He’s set to fly to Europe on Friday afternoon for the latest stop on his hoops odyssey.

“It was just hard and stressful waiting around, man,” Rendleman said. “When this came up, I was ready to take the job.”

Rendleman thought about staying stateside this time around and trying to attract the attention of NBA scouts. Ultimately, the 2013 UNCW graduate decided to go back overseas. He had an opportunity in France fall through late in the process and was also in talks with a Polish team.

He finalized plans with the Swiss club on Wednesday, making for a quick turnaround. The Lugano Tigers — which won the Swiss League title in 2013-2014 –have already played several exhibition games and kick off the regular season on Oct. 4.

Now Rendleman gets his first taste of the European game. He said he doesn’t know exactly what to expect in Switzerland but figures it will be a more smooth transition on and off the court than Korea.

The strict coaching and intense focus on fundamentals wore on him last season. Though he had a team-provided translator, the language and culture differences were difficult. The time difference made it hard to keep contact with friends and family.

“Korea’s as extreme as it gets,” Rendleman said. “You were like in a whole ‘nother day.”

Rendleman said the European style should fit with the skills he’s worked hard to craft. He’s worked on getting better off the dribble and expanding his shooting range. Always a prolific rebounder, he’s fully recovered from a wrist injury that slowed him last season and feeling strong again.

Rendleman’s new team is located near the Italian border, and he’s hopeful a strong season could help him eventually land in the more well-regarded Italian League. He hasn’t given up his hopes of earning a chance in the NBA, either.

“The NBA looks at Europe,” Rendleman said. “Hopefully, I can go over there and show what I can do.”